Record numbers meet Alan Beith MP on village surgery tour

5.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 13th Oct 2008

A record number of over 270 people raised issues with Sir Alan Beith MP during his 800-mile tour of 122 villages around the Berwick upon Tweed constituency.

"The effect of the floods was a major issue in Rothbury, Powburn, Warkworth and the Till Valley", said Sir Alan, "and I also met a large gathering of Widdrington residents concerned about the threat to the doctors' pharmacy service in the village."

Other big issues were Post Office closures, and farming problems including the controversial plan for electronic sheep tagging.

"I also had quite a few people who work on ships in the oil industry concerned about drastic changes in the tax rules, and people supporting the Ombudsman's ruling in favour of compensation for people who had suffered in the Equitable Life collapse. By the end of the tour people were beginning to be concerned about the threat to bank deposits, but the full extent of this problem did not emerge until the tour was completed.

Housing, public transport and planning issues - especially wind farms - were frequent topics, as were the problems finding an NHS dentist. People also came along to thank me for dealing with problems they had raised previously, which is always encouraging.

"Although e-mail and telephone are widely used by people in rural areas to contact me, I still value face-to-face meetings, and the tour makes sure that I get to every part of the constituency."

The constituency is the largest in England, covering over 1000 square miles. It extends from the Scottish border to just north of Morpeth, and from the coast as far inland as parts of the National Park.